Pam Wilder

DESERT HEAT consists of two stories.  Both stories are set in and around Maricopa County and Phoenix, Arizona.

The first story, Therapy, is about a physical therapist named Laura, whose husband died two years before the story opens.  She is attracted to one of her new patients, a widower named James Barron, but fraternizing with patients is against medical ethics and the policies of the clinic she works for.  James is the type of fellow who breaks into “camp songs” when he is suffering pain during his physical therapy sessions. Through all the sessions, Laura maintains her platonic posture. Then, everything changes when a stalker intrudes into James’ life and he and Laura find out the stalker is following Laura, too.  As danger, treachery, and a police investigation consume their lives, their intense friendship blossoms into gleeful, romantic chemistry. 

In the second story, Sugar Creek, an art curator named Mette Dahlquist moves her elderly parents from New York City to a new home in Sun City, and lives with them temporarily while they settle in.  She works for an art gallery in Scottsdale while on leave from her gallery in Manhattan.  One morning, while she is jogging on the trail in Sugar Creek Park, she is frightened by two men who appear to be following her.  She takes off sprinting and encounters a man riding a Pinto pony on the trail who helps her out of the situation.  She learns that he is Eric Johnson, a Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff. They quickly become friends. Deputy Johnson returns to the area where he encountered Mette, and has a look around, which begins an investigation into a new crime gang in metropolitan Phoenix.  When Mette is attacked and injured by thieves in the park, she inadvertently becomes involved in his investigation, and their friendship evolves into passionate intimacy, which leads to midlife changes for both of them.  Mette originally had no intention of staying in Arizona, and she descends into conflict about their relationship as she grapples with post-trauma recovery. She returns to New York City, where she undergoes psychological counseling to help her with her fears.  When she returns to Phoenix, she must reach deep into herself to fortify herself for the unexpected dangers that immediately ensue. 

Both stories address the issue of how a person re-arranges their life in middle-age, when they meet a person with whom they’d like to share their life.